tucker



( No Model.) p

- W. H; TUCKER.

OASTER. No. 652,598. Paflented Jan. '7, 1896.

W/TNESSES" lNVENTO/i Wvllta/m J5. zit/076a;

ing the edges together, with the lower end NiTE. STATES lVILLIAM II. TUCKER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE TUCKER & DORSEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CASTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,598, dated January 7, 1896. Application filed January 18, 1895. Serial No. 535,318. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM l'I. TUCKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at In dianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements in Casters, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my said invention is to provide an improved construction of casters of that character especially intended for use with metal sockets, it consisting chiefly in an improvement in the means for holding the stem of the same in its socket, by which said stem is held in said socket with sufficient force to prevent it from falling out, but not strongly enough to prevent it from being removed when desired, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and on which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure l is a perspective view of acaster embodying a stem in place and secured to aleg of an article of furniture, as when ready for use, the leg and the socket therein being shown in section, my invention being embodied in the structure so shown; Fig. 2, a horizontal sectional view lookin g downwardly from the dotted line 2 2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detail perspective view of the upper end of the stem of the caster on a somewhat enlarged scale, and Fig. 4 a detail sectional view of the same.

In said drawings the portions marked Arepresent the'socket, B an ordinary caster-stem, and C a spring secured in the upper end of said stem. The other parts not being peculiar to my invention will not be lettered or particularly described, but are shown for purpose of illustration merely.

The socket A is a plain open-ended tube, preferably rolled up from sheet metal, bringpreferably slightly spread or flared as shown, although it may be of cast metal if desired. It is adapted to be inserted in a perforation in a leg or other suitable portion of the article of furniture to which the caster is to be attached, and in cases where said portions are of cast metal, as'in the case of cast-iron bedsteads, these sockets are inserted by being placed in the mold and the metal cast around them at the same time the article itself is formed. If the article or portion to which the casters are to be attached is of wood, then the perforations are formed by boring and the sockets driven in the usual and well-known manner. As will be observed, such a socket is entirely plain, is open at the lower end, and may be and usually is open also at the upper end.

The stem B is in most particulars an ordinary stem of a caster, except that it preferably has a notch or recess in its extreme upper end to receive the spring 0.

The spring 0 is secured to the stem B and extends down alongside said stem as shown. It preferably extends equally on both sides, and is thus in effectadouble spring, although a single spring would be within the scope of my invention. It is preferably secured to the stem by being placed in a notch or recess in the upper end thereof, and is there securely held by hammering the head of the stem until said spring is tightly bound in said notch or recess, the metal of the head overlapping to some extent the sides and edges of the spring, as shown particularly in Fig. 4:. The points of this spring are preferably curved outwardly somewhat to eifect a better engagement with the interior surface of the socket.

As above indicated, the stem is in other par- V ticulars an ordinary upwardly-extending stem of a caster, and the caster'itself is or may be in all other particulars of any desired form. The article of furniture with which the invention is used may of course be anythingdeleg is illustrated.

Having thus fully described my said inven: tion, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

sired. The lower end of an ordinary bedstead- The combination, of a furniture leg having a socket therein, and a caster having a stem 9 adapted to enter said socket, which stem is provided with a .U -shaped spring secured to its upper end, the ends of which extend down alongside said stem and are curved outwardly so that its points will press against the internal walls of said socket, whereby said caster is held therein, substantially as shown and described.

111 Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, this ll-i'h day of January, A. D. 1895.

XVILLIAM H. TUCKER.

\Vitnesses CHESTER BRADFORD, JAMES A. W ALSH. 

